Marvel fans are used to characters jumping from film to film, but the addition of Disney+ into the Marvel Cinematic Universe means that storylines will connect across multiple platforms. Marvel boss Kevin Feige doesn’t believe he’s asking too much from fans, who will now have to watch both weekly series on streaming in addition to the big-screen films, to get the full picture of what’s happening.
“Honestly, we tried to make the stories unfold in a way that if you are following along and have seen what has preceded it, you’ll be right up to speed. And more importantly, if you haven’t, you’ll be up to speed,” Feige said Wednesday during a session at the semiannual Television Critics Association press tour. In fact, he promised that fans won’t have to watch “WandaVision” and other streaming shows to understand what happens in upcoming movies like “Captain Marvel 2.”
Teyonah Parris was introduced as the grown-up Monica Rambeau from “Captain Marvel” in “WandaVision,” where she’s undergoing her transformation into her heroic alter ego Spectrum (or maybe Photon, she’s had a lot of different monikers in the comics). Iman Vellani makes her debut as Kamala Khan/Ms. Marvel in her own self-titled Disney+ series later this year. Both of them will star alongside Brie Larson in the big-screen-bound “Captain Marvel 2” next year.
After “WandaVision,” Elizabeth Olsen will star opposite Benedict Cumberbatch in “Doctor Strange and the Multiverse of Madness,” which will connect back to the Disney+ series. “WandaVision” is also laying the groundwork for Disney+’s “Loki” and the film “Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania.”
Feige explained how much discussion his team has had with the director and writer of the “Doctor Strange” sequel, which began shooting last fall and is currently set to hit theaters on March 25, 2022.
“There were lots of conversations with Sam Raimi and Michael Waldron, and the entire ‘Doctor Strange’ team, that this movie needs to work for people who watched ‘WandaVision,’ but more importantly, it needs to work for people who didn’t, who maybe ‘Endgame’ was last time they saw Wanda, or one of the earlier movies,” Feige continued. “We don’t want there to be a barrier to entry. So I always say when the lights go down, and the movie starts, it’s a clean slate — forget everything that’s come before and be able to enjoy something as its own self-contained storyline. And as we make more shows, and if we make more films, and as we introduce more characters, that does become harder and harder.”